Radix Trading

Radix Trading is an American proprietary trading firm headquartered in Chicago, with additional offices in New York and Amsterdam. The firm trades for its own account rather than operating primarily as a traditional asset manager or broker for outside clients. Public reference material describes Radix as focused on technologically driven trading and places it within the institutional proprietary-trading sector. The company was co-founded by Benjamin Blander and Michael Rauchman. Before establishing Radix, Blander led the high-frequency trading group at Citadel, while Rauchman served as chief technology officer of GETCO, another prominent electronic-trading firm. Their backgrounds connected Radix with the engineering-heavy and quantitative trading tradition associated with high-frequency markets. The available public information does not specify a founding year, detailed ownership structure, assets, revenue, employee count, or complete list of traded instruments. Radix expanded beyond the United States when it opened an Amsterdam office in August 2017. The move was intended to support the firm’s European operations. Amsterdam was selected instead of London in part because of perceived regulatory advantages associated with the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. The Amsterdam location complemented the firm’s existing presence in Chicago and New York and gave it a base in a major European financial center. Radix later became publicly discussed in connection with a 2023 enforcement action brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Binance and Changpeng Zhao. The CFTC complaint referred to three unidentified Binance trading firms as VIP clients and did not accuse those firms of wrongdoing. Radix subsequently identified itself as the firm called “Trading Firm A” in the complaint. According to reporting cited in the public account, Radix had traded on Binance for several years through offshore affiliates and a prime brokerage. The CFTC alleged that Binance instructed Radix to access its website through a virtual private network. Benjamin Blander said that Radix believed it had not acted improperly because its cryptocurrency connectivity arrangements had been legally reviewed in advance, and he stated that the firm was cooperating with the CFTC investigation. The available material does not establish that Radix was charged, fined, or found liable in that matter. Radix’s public profile remains relatively limited compared with large publicly traded financial institutions. Its identity is principally associated with proprietary electronic trading, quantitative expertise, and a multinational office footprint rather than with consumer-facing products. Financial results, current executives beyond the publicly identified founders, regulatory registrations, and detailed business lines are not established by the supplied reference material.

Radix Trading emerged from the institutional electronic-trading sector and was co-founded by Benjamin Blander and Michael Rauchman. The founders brought experience from two important American high-frequency trading organizations: Blander had previously headed Citadel’s high-frequency trading group, and Rauchman had been chief technology officer of GETCO. Their backgrounds suggest a business built around automated, quantitative, and technology-intensive trading, although the available reference material does not provide a detailed account of Radix’s initial capitalization, founding date, early products, or first trading venues. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, a major center for derivatives and proprietary trading. It also maintains an office in New York, extending its presence to another important United States financial-market hub. Publicly available information does not identify the dates on which the Chicago or New York offices opened, nor does it disclose the firm’s current staffing, ownership, revenues, trading volumes, or precise market-by-market strategy. A documented international expansion occurred in August 2017, when Radix opened an office in Amsterdam. The office was established to expand the firm’s European operations. The choice of Amsterdam rather than London was influenced partly by regulatory considerations, including the changing relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union during the Brexit period. Amsterdam gave Radix a continental European base while preserving its existing United States operations in Chicago and New York. Radix’s public identity later intersected with cryptocurrency-market regulation. On March 27, 2023, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Binance and Changpeng Zhao. The CFTC alleged that Binance and Zhao had willfully evaded United States law and violated derivatives regulations. The complaint described three unidentified trading firms as VIP clients of Binance. Those firms were not accused of wrongdoing in the complaint. Radix subsequently identified itself as “Trading Firm A,” one of the firms mentioned by the CFTC, through reporting by The Wall Street Journal. The other two firms were later identified as Jane Street Capital and Tower Research Capital. The CFTC alleged that Binance instructed Radix to access Binance’s website through a virtual private network. According to the public account, Radix had traded on Binance for several years using offshore affiliates and a prime brokerage. Benjamin Blander said Radix believed it had not done anything wrong because arrangements relating to cryptocurrency connectivity had been legally vetted beforehand. He also said that Radix was cooperating with the CFTC investigation. The supplied sources do not establish that Radix itself was a defendant in the CFTC action, or that it received a penalty, settlement, or adverse finding. Consequently, the 2023 episode is best characterized as regulatory and litigation-related news involving a named client, rather than as a proven corporate scandal. Beyond this episode, detailed public information about Radix’s subsequent strategy, product development, management changes, and current operations is limited.

• 2023

  Radix identifies itself in the Binance-related CFTC litigation

  [1]Radix Tradingen.wikipedia.org

  After the CFTC filed its lawsuit against Binance and Changpeng Zhao, Radix said it was the trading firm referred to as “Trading Firm A” in the complaint. The firm was not accused of wrongdoing in the cited material.

• 2017

  Amsterdam office opens

  [1]Radix Tradingen.wikipedia.org

  Radix opened an Amsterdam office in August to expand its European operations. Amsterdam was chosen over London partly because of regulatory considerations associated with Brexit.

• Radix Trading is established by Benjamin Blander and Michael Rauchman

  [1]Radix Tradingen.wikipedia.org

  The two founders formed a proprietary trading firm drawing on their prior experience in high-frequency and electronic trading at Citadel and GETCO. The reference material does not provide a specific founding year.

A technology-oriented proprietary trading firm serving institutional financial markets through quantitative and electronic trading capabilities.

• Financial trading

  Proprietary electronic trading

  Radix Trading operates as a proprietary trading firm, using its own capital and technology to participate in financial markets. Public sources associate the company with quantitative and high-frequency trading expertise, but do not provide a complete description of its models, instruments, venues, or risk-management systems.

• Digital-asset trading

  Cryptocurrency market trading

  Public reporting connected Radix with trading on Binance through offshore affiliates and a prime brokerage over several years. This activity was discussed in the context of the CFTC’s 2023 case against Binance. The available sources do not show that cryptocurrency trading is Radix’s sole or principal business line.

• 2017

  European expansion through an Amsterdam officeStrategy

  Background

  Radix sought to expand its operations in Europe. The firm considered Amsterdam preferable to London in part because of regulatory advantages associated with the post-Brexit environment.

  Action taken

  The company opened an office in Amsterdam in August 2017.

  Aftermath

  The office added a European base to Radix’s existing presence in Chicago and New York. No further operating or financial effects are specified in the available sources.

  Source

1. 1Radix Tradingen.wikipedia.org